Pain that is caused by damage to somatic or visceral tissue and occurs abruptly after an injury or disease, persists until healing occurs, and often is intensified by anxiety or fear

Pain

An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience arising from actual or potential tissue damage and described in terms of such damage; whatever the person experiencing the pain says it is, existing whenever the person says it does

Patient-Controlled Analgesia

An analgesic delievery system that allows the patient to receive a bolus infusion of an analgesic on deamnd within the parameters programmed into the delivery system

Perception of Pain

The state in which pain is recognized, defined, and responded to by the individual experiencing the pain

Suffering

The state of severe distress associated with events that threaten the intactness of the person

Titration

Dose adjustment based on assessment of the adequacy of analgesic effect versus the side effects produced

Transduction of Pain

The conversion of a mechanical, thermal, or chemical stimulus into a neuronal action potential

Transmission of Pain

Movement of pain impulses from the site of transduction to the brain

Trigger Point

A circumscribed hypersensitive area within a tight band of muscle that is caused by acute or chronic muscle strain